In what it called an effort to check the consumption of illicit liquor, plug the huge revenue loss of revenue to the state exchequer and curb the growing crimes, the Maharashtra Government on Thursday lifted the six-year-old ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in the naxalite-infested Chandrapur district in eastern Maharashtra.
Acting on a report submitted In March this year by a committee headed by retired Principal Secretary Ramnath Jha, the State Cabinet – at its weekly meeting presided over by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray – decided to do away with the ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in Chandrapur district where the liquor ban had come into effect from April 1, 2015.
“Keeping in view the increased consumption of illicit liquor and consequent increase in the crimes, the Maharashtra Government has lifted the ban on sale and consumption of liquor in Chandrapur district,” the state government said in a news release after the State Cabinet meeting.
In its report submitted to the State Government on March 9, 2021, the Ramnath Jha committee stated that the administration had miserably failed in implementing the ban on sale and consumption of liquor in Chandrapur district.
“Illicit liquor was easily available in the district in the black market. This liquor was dangerous to health. The sale of illicit liquor increased in black market. As a consequence, the state began to suffer huge losses in excise revenue. The criminals began to exploit the situation. In a disturbing development, women and children began to take part in the illicit liquor business in a big way,” the Committee stated in its report.
Another reason based on which the Ramnath Jha-headed committee recommended the resumption of sale of liquor in Chandrapur district was that the various NGO and citizens – who participated in a poll on the issue —favoured the lifting of the ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in the district. Quoting the crime statistics prior to and after the prohibition imposed in April 2015, the committee noted that in all 16,132 crimes were registered between 2010 and 2014. However the number of crimes shot up to 40,381 between 2016 and 2019.
While there were only 1,729 cases against women before the liquor ban, the number rose to 4,042 after the prohibition was implemented. In addition, it also came to light a large number of children were being used for the illicit liquor trade.
What followed was a public opinion poll in which many organizations and citizens voted in favour of lifting the ban on liquor which the Ramnath Jha Committee accepted and made a recommendation to the state government that the liquor ban be lifted.
During the six period, the state lost Excise revenue of Rs.1,606 crore from Chandrapur district in the past five years due to prohibition. In addition, it suffered a loss of Rs.964-crore due to a drop in Sales Tax income. In effect, the state government incurred a total loss of Rs.2,570 crore to the state exchequer.
Among other things, the Ramnath Jha Committee started in its report that many village panchayats, women's groups, religious organizations , lawyers, media and citizens sent nearly 243,627 lakh petitions or appeals to the district administration rooting for revocation of liquor ban, while only 25,876 petitions wanted prohibition to continue in Chandrapur district.